Land Rover Defender

Anyone have info on the Defender? A friend of a co-worker of my husband is selling a 1995 Land Rover Defender 90. I don't know much about it besides it's a soft top, hasn't seen much off road use, it's got a 5-speed and a V-8 and "low miles," whatever that means for a 16 year old truck and I don't know what he's asking for price yet. We are going up to Carlsbad to take a look at it this afternoon and who know's from there. I've done some looking on-line but does anyone have info or know anyone that owns one?
--------------------1984 Mazda RX-7, 1995 Land Rover Defender, 2004 Volvo XC-70, 2012 Ford Raptor, 2012 Audi S5 Convertible, & 2013 Lincoln Navigator L --------------------Be the change that you wish to see in the world

Great investment. Great off-roader. Great history. Great conversation piece. Horrendous everyday vehicle.

It would be a terrific fun weekender, but I sure wouldn't want to spend much time in one on road; especially since it has no airbags or side-impact protection (lack of safety equipment is what killed the Defender in the U.S.).

On the plus side, unlike other LR/RR vehicles, it doesn't have the electronic doo-dads that always fail. It shouldn't be much of a maintenance nightmare, but what it does require isn't going to be cheap.

The reality behind that mystique is that you saw Land Rovers in those third world crapholes not because they were good 4x4s but because those were former British colonies and Landie was the home team. No matter how poorly made they were.

If it had a Ford badge on the front it would have gone to the crusher 5 years ago and nobody would miss it.

the defender is like the wrangler, only with less creature comforts. it goes without frivolous luxuries like airbags, traction control, ABS, and air conditioning. if you buying it as a trail rat, its pretty good.

however i would agree with aspade to some extent. the 80's and 90's were not good decades for any british car. almost all of them suffered from very bad build quality. i would be weary of that. honestly i would rather buy an old series II or series III land rover then a defender
------------------2006 Mercedes Benz SLK 3502008 Mercedes Benz ML 350 4Matic2012 Mercedes Benz E550 Cabriolet 2012 Ford Focus SEL

It's like a CJ7, awesome, but not for everyday use. You should look into a Discoverer instead, much better for everyday use.
=\/=DD: 1995 Mazda Miata M EditionToy: 04 Honda VFR800 Interceptor named Phoenix (nicknamed VTAK)

So not a lot of fans of the Defender here, I see! Granted none that responded have owned or seem to know anyone that has owned Anyway, the Defender would be the replacement for the Bronco that I wrecked last month and compared to the Bronco, the Defender is a huge step in comfort and mileage would be about the same with the Bronco

We met up with the guy who's selling it, he's the original owner and it has just under 30K on it. He mostly used it around town he said and his wife has been after him to get rid of it. Now with the cost of gas he said, it was time to part with it. It's in great shape and well taken care of, seviced by the dealer that he got it (and a Range Rover) from and has all the maintenance history.

I really liked driving it but wasn't real happy with the way the back seats were (the face inward making it a 6 pasenger) and a decision would be so much easier if we could put a normal front facing seat back there. Hmmm....
--------------------1984 Mazda RX-7, 1995 Land Rover Defender, 2004 Volvo XC-70, 2012 Ford Raptor, 2012 Audi S5 Convertible, & 2013 Lincoln Navigator L --------------------Be the change that you wish to see in the world

Dagwood:So not a lot of fans of the Defender here, I see! Granted none that responded have owned or seem to know anyone that has owned Anyway, the Defender would be the replacement for the Bronco that I wrecked last month and compared to the Bronco, the Defender is a huge step in comfort and mileage would be about the same with the Bronco

We met up with the guy who's selling it, he's the original owner and it has just under 30K on it. He mostly used it around town he said and his wife has been after him to get rid of it. Now with the cost of gas he said, it was time to part with it. It's in great shape and well taken care of, seviced by the dealer that he got it (and a Range Rover) from and has all the maintenance history.

I really liked driving it but wasn't real happy with the way the back seats were (the face inward making it a 6 pasenger) and a decision would be so much easier if we could put a normal front facing seat back there. Hmmm....

Those seats give it quite a bit of character! I'd never change them. I can't say I wouldn't want to buy it, but I can say that I have been down your route and had a horrible experience, like three times. The last time was with a beautiful CJ7 that I never got to drive, much less use it for it's purpose, and I had to let it go. I still loved it and I do miss it, but an unreliable money pit.
=\/=DD: 1995 Mazda Miata M EditionToy: 04 Honda VFR800 Interceptor named Phoenix (nicknamed VTAK)